Newsom Points to Hole in California Debate

Published May 19, 2011 at 7:14 AM | Updated at 9:01 AM PDT on May 20, 2011

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California could do without a lieutenant governor, but the current occupant of the office, former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, is doing a public service by trying to focus more attention on jobs and economic development.

Reminders from Newsom are timely given the near-universal, and understandable, obsession with the broken state budget. Newsom called publicly recently for the state to adopt a comprehensive strategy on jobs.

What would that look like? At the very least, California policymakers should focus on doing more with the state's existing strengths, which amount to the three t's -- trade, tourism, and technology. Another priority: reviving and supporting, including with public incentives and investment, high-end manufacturing businesses that have been historically strong in California, especially aerospace.

In any event, Newsom is right: this is a conversation we aren't having, and need to have.